Frequently Asked Questions in Pregnancy

What can I do about nausea?

Nausea, especially in the first few months of pregnancy, is very normal. The rapid increase and change in hormones causes nausea or “morning sickness” to occur. However, this may occur at any time during the day or night, and may last minutes to all day long. Typically, nausea resolves by the second trimester.

Here are some suggestions:

Eat dry foods such as toast or crackers separate from liquids

Eat a few dry crackers 5-10 minutes before getting out of bed in the am, then move slowly.

Avoid eating large meals, but instead snack frequently.

Avoid an empty stomach.

Take your prenatal vitamin before bed.

Ginger, popsicles, mixing some water and juice, sea bands, Vitamin B6 all can be helpful for some patients with nausea.

If you are having trouble staying hydrated, chew on ice, make ice cubes of your favorite sport drink, try pedialyte popsicles.

If none of these suggestions help, call you doctor to discuss medication options.

What medications are safe in pregnancy?

As a general rule, we try to avoid medications, especially during the first trimester. But there are times when medications are necessary and the benefit of taking it outweighs any risk. It is difficult to go through all medications, but here is a brief list of those that are safe. As usual, any question, call you doctor.

Safe medications

Pain Relief

Tylenol

Common Cold/Allergies

Sudafed

Plain Robitussin

Mucinex

Benadryl

Zyrtec

Claritin

Nausea

Vitamin B6

Unisom

Avoid Motrin, Ibuprofen, Aleve and Aspirin products.

What should I avoid in pregnancy?

For the most part, you can continue doing and eating things you did prior to pregnancy. Here are a few recommendations of what you should avoid that patients frequently ask us about.